OT: Editing Theory Reference Materials. What’s on your shelf?

[Shane Ross]

Besides BLINK OF AN EYE and THE CONVERSATIONS by Walter Murch, I have:

WHEN SHOOTING STOPS (Ralph Rosenblum & Robert Karen)

And other books about production:

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDANT FILMMAKING
REBEL WITHOUT A CREW (Robert Rodriguez)
IF CHINS COULD KILL (Bruce Campbell)
FEATURE FILMMAKING AT USED CAR PRICES (Rick Schmidt)
ON DIRECTING (David Mamet)
THE FILMMAKERS HANDBOOK (Pincus & Ascher)

Not that many on Editing Theory out there. And I will say that I enjoyed WHEN SHOOTING STOPS more than the Murch Books. He is overrated. I want a book by Thelma Shoonmaker, or Anne Coats…

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Ron James]

[Shane Ross] “And I will say that I enjoyed WHEN SHOOTING STOPS more than the Murch Books.”

Thanks for mentioning that. I’ll have to check that one out. Can we add to the list Film Criticism books?

My vote goes to the Film Freak Central book(s):

https://www.lulu.com/content/380546

or

https://filmfreakcentral.net/

[Steven Gonzales]

On Film Editing by Edward Dmytryk is good, as is Technique of Film Editing by Karl Reisz and Gavin Millar (though the movies referenced are a little dated in the edition I read)

First Cut: Conversations with Film Editors by Gabriella Oldham has some great interviews, as does Selected Takes: Film Editors on Editing by Vincent LoBrutto.

Cut to the Chase: Forty-Five years of Editing America’s Favorite Movies by Sam O’Steen is an interesting autobiographical type tome to go with the afore-mentioned After the Shooting Stops by Ralph Rosenblum.

Theory and Practice Film Sound by Elisabeth Weis (Editor) is full of great essays, and Sound-On Film: Interviews with Creators of Film Sound is LoBrutto’s film sound interview book.

Behind the Seen (about Cold Mountain) is a great inside look at modern editing on a feature — by Charles Koppelman. It’s slightly dated now, but very interesting.

And just to take it out there a bit, how about Kino-eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov, or Film Technique by V.I. Pudovkin, Grammar of the Film Language by Daniel Arijon.

[Chris Poisson]

Hey Kevin,

I have a book I like called “The Technique of Film and Video Editing” by Ken Dancyger.

[Scott Davis]

[Steven Gonzales] “And just to take it out there a bit, how about Kino-eye: The Writings of Dziga Vertov, or Film Technique by V.I. Pudovkin, Grammar of the Film Language by Daniel Arijon.”

I’d include the godfather of editing, Sergei Eisenstein’s writings. I’ve found books about literary structure are very helpfull. Also “The Art of the Documentary” has some really good stuff in it.

[Kevin Monahan]

Excellent gang. Keep the suggestions coming. Shane’s right. There’s not a whole lot out there for editors, specifically. Film language and history books are an acceptable offshoot. Probably the best training is to watch a lot of great films, and pay closer attention to the editing.

I was watching “The Deer Hunter” last night and was watching Peter Zinner’s cuts. Some are very restrained, very slow and many, MCU shots. The “Mao” scene when DeNiro explodes and attacks his captors has 15 cuts in the space of only a few seconds. Nice range. I’m going to revisit some of the films Peter’s worked on. “Godfather” and “Godfather 2” – ’nuff said. Apparently in his late 80s, he’s still doing work.

Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
Pres. SF Cutters

[Rich Rubasch]

Kevin sort of makes my point. What’s on my shelf? Demo reels from some great cutters out there, some who were my personal mentors and others who just have excellent demo reels. King Cut had a memorable editing demo reel a few years ago. I would rather go back and watch some cuts, get the feel of how sequences develop, listen to music selection etc than read theory.

I would also rather go to a museum and look at art than read a book about art history or art techniques. We are a visual medium…I like a visual approach to techniques and inspiration.

Books sit on a shelf.

Rich Rubasch

PS…I love books, but most of mine are reference books on software, not techniques.

[Kevin Monahan]

[Rich Rubasch] “Kevin sort of makes my point.”

Which point was that? I’m not talking about demo reels, so your comment is coming outta left field there Rich. Sounds like a beef from a wholly different thread. 🙂

That’s not really what I’m talking about. I’m talking about learning about the theories behind story-telling. While watching a lot of great movies is one way to teach myself how it’s done, watching demo reels does not.

You cannot discount books or articles written on the topic. Reading provides some time to reflect on ideas, while movie watching demands your entire attention. I like to do both. My creativity is fueled by more than what I read or watch anyway. I’m influenced by anything and everything that comes into any of my senses. I’m sure ya’ll pretty much are the same way, no? 😀

Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
Pres. SF Cutters

[Kevin Monahan]

“Throne of Blood” is on the KUNG FU Channel this morning. Great cutting by the master himself (albeit with a few cheesy wipes in between big scenes

[Steven Gonzales]

He wrote a book called “Somethng Like an Autobiography”.

Kurosawa is one of the rare geniuses, with so many different styles of films perfectly executed. Also, it doesn’t hurt that he used the greatest film actor of all time, Toshiro Mifune.

Speaking of Directors and editing, I love this quote from Orson Welles in an interview in Cahiers du Cinema (from “The Conversations” by Michael Ondaatje):

“For my style, for my vision of the cinema, editing is not simply one aspect: it’s THE aspect. The notion of ‘directing’ a film is the invention of critics like you. It isn’t an art, or at best it’s an art only one minute a day. That minute is terribly crucial, but it occurs very rarely. The only time one is able to exercise control over the film is in the editing. The images themselves are not sufficient. They’re very important, but they’re only images. What’s essential is the duration of each image and that which follows each image: the whole eloquence of cinema is that it’s achieved in the editing room.”